The aerodynamic part of wind turbine noise is a CTQ (critical to quality) of growing significance. It is gaining importance from a competitive and regulatory perspective as the market is driving product design to larger turbines with higher blade tip speed. Here, aerodynamic noise becomes a crucial constraint on efficiency and yield of a design. As such, there is a need for concepts for noise reduction.
The present invention defines a concept wherein materials technology is used as a means of noise reduction, targeting blade self-noise and tip-noise, the two primary components of wind turbine aerodynamic noise. In the past, aerodynamic shaping has been the primary means of achieving lower noise levels, e.g., the use of large chord, higher solidity blades, low-noise airfoil design, plan-form and tip/winglets geometry. Noise reduction concepts that use add-ons like trailing edge serrations, sharp trailing edge inserts and the like have also been investigated and, in some cases put into production.